The Veterans Affairs Website: A Source for Disinformation about Unethical Experiments

The Veterans Affairs website demonstrates that the agency is a source for disinformation about unethical medical experiments conducted on military personnel. It states:

From 1955 to 1975, the U.S. Army Chemical Corps conducted classified medical studies at Edgewood Arsenal, Maryland. The purpose was to evaluate the impact of low-dose chemical warfare agents on military personnel and to test protective clothing and pharmaceuticals. About 7,000 soldiers took part in these experiments that involved exposures to more than 250 different chemicals, according to the Department of Defense (DoD).

The National Academies of Science (NAS) [i.e., IOM] reviewed the potential for long-term health effects from these experiments and did not find any significant long-term physical harm, except for some Veterans exposed to larger doses of mustard agents. [emphasis added]

There is no doubt that the long-term health consequences of exposure to mustard agents or Lewisite can be serious and, in some cases, devastating. This report has demonstrated that complete knowledge of these long-term consequences has been and still is sorely lacking, resulting in great costs to some of those exposed in WWII.

The IOM report was a catalyst for numerous examinations of the available evidence about the magnitude of harm, but little action on behalf of the injured veterans:

This committee discovered that an atmosphere of secrecy still exists to some extent regarding the WWII testing programs. Although many documents pertaining to the WWII testing programs were declassified shortly after the war ended, others were not. Of those declassified, many remained “restricted” to the present day and, therefore, not released to the public. As a result, the committee often had great difficulty obtaining information. (IOM. Veterans at Risk, 1993)

Post navigation

Donate to AHRP

To make a tax-deductible contribution, you may use Paypal:

Or mail your check, payable to AHRP:

Alliance for Human Research Protection (AHRP)142 West End Ave., Suite 28P
New York, NY 10023

Random Quote

To do evil a human being must first of all believe that what he’s doing is good… Ideology – that is what gives devil doing its long-sought justification and gives the evildoer the necessary steadfastness and determination. That is the social theory which helps to make his acts seem good instead of bad in his own and others’ eyes, so that he won’t hear reproaches and curses but will receive praise and honors…